Koen:
> always assumed that
> the Last-Modified header applied to the variant, not to the whole
> resource.
Roy:
It applies to the resource as a whole, which explains why the definition
was the way it was (i.e., specified in terms of how the recipient will
interpret it) and should be.
I agree with Koen on this one. At the very least, it should be at
the origin server's option to decide whether to keep distinct
Last-Modified dates for each variant, or to use the maximum
over all of the variants of a resource.
Whether or not this has been easy for the CERN and Apache servers
is basically irrelevant, since I see no reason why the protocol
specification should require it, and it might be much harder to
implement in other contexts.
-Jeff